


Deus Devoratrix

by XelynCraft



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Anal Sex, Blasphemy, Gore and Violence, Graphic Sex, Happy Ending, Horror Elements, M/M, Mild Pain Kink, Modern AU, Overstimulation kink, Porn With Plot, Praise Kink, Reference to Drugs, Size Kink, Smut, corrupt priests get what they deserve, everything between markus and simon is consensual, offensive language, pagan god markus, reference to pedophila, shapeshifting/monsterous form markus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-03
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:33:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25696591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XelynCraft/pseuds/XelynCraft
Summary: Deus Devoratrix; God DevourerMarkus is an ancient, long forgotten pagan God that has been bound underneath a church in the woods of a remote forest for hundreds of years. He is forced to watch the world pass him by and hear the corrupt thoughts and desires of the priests that continue to hold him there, knowing that their ancestors slaughtered his followers and purged his name from the history books to ensure he would never gain more. He is weakened, he is wounded, and he is utterly, intensely, profoundly,angry.
Relationships: Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 39
Kudos: 74





	1. Ravenous Messiah

**Author's Note:**

> Maybe I'm just being overly self conscious, but this could be viewed as offensive as fuck and I apologize in advance if it is, but hope you can enjoy it anyways. Just know that I purposefully was no where near as tactful with this fic as I usually am with my writing. This one is meant to be a bit unsettling. It still has a happy ending though. Also it's my first time writing explicit sex scenes so uh... bear with me.

Once an all-consuming force of unimaginable power, a great destroyer able to lay waste to entire empires in mere moments, a mighty creator who could build up entire ecosystems from the very earth itself, capable of both bestowing life and stealing it away, now he was reduced to this.

Markus was constrained to this weak human form, naked and bound in barbed chains that pulled his arms and legs to cross each other uncomfortably beneath him. The shackles about his wrists and ankles were tight enough that the skin underneath was raw and bloody while the thorned metal of his constraints bit at the flesh everywhere they touched. Barbs dug into his back, his legs, his arms, everywhere, painful reminders that he was no longer the God he used to be. No. He was nothing but a caged monster now.

However, Markus was not the only monster in this place. The inner voice of a priest filled his mind.

_ 'What a waste of oxygen. These idiots really think I can cure their daughter of cancer? She's already dead, she just doesn't know it yet. I suppose if they want to pay me to bless her, I won't complain though. When she drops dead, I'll just tell them God was calling her back and it was her time. They'll probably thank me. Fucking stupid hicks. Maybe if I'm lucky they will put in an extra few dollars to the tithe if I convince them the Lord will thank their generosity by accepting her ugly soul into heaven and forgiving her sins. Little Brat. I don't know why God would want heathen children in heaven anyways.’ _

The man's thoughts filtered down to Markus from above, where the many priests and monks that kept him bound here wandered about the church they had built to their own God in an attempt to purge Markus from the land. All their consecrations were for naught though. Markus still lived, despite their best efforts to kill him. All they could do was seal him away here in the dark.

Markus could then hear one of the monk's despicable thoughts as he committed adultery by fornicating with one of the villager's wives in one of the empty classrooms of the church house. He was supposed to have sworn an oath of celibacy and be clean of such things, but his inner dialogue was anything but pure.

_ 'Fuck. She's like a rabbit, what a slut. It's no wonder her husband complains that she's always pregnant. I bet at least half of the little fucks she's raised aren't even his. Filthy whore. Damn, she feels good though.' _

Their thoughts were sickening, predatory and vile. They committed atrocities in the name of a God they swore was just and loving. This God they worshipped was said to have made them in his own image, but Markus knew better. It was the other way around. These men had made their new God in their own image, and then they put this effigy that was nothing more than a personification of their own ego up on a pedestal and prayed to it. When the nothingness they put their faith in remained silent and apathetic to their pleas, they grew to hate it and turned their backs on the ideals they claimed it represented. And so, the corruption spread like a disease, infecting them as they indulged in the very sins they preached against. They became that which they swore to hate.

For how little Markus thought of them, he still could not deny that they were clever, adaptable parasites. For they had managed to trap him – a true God – here, and reduce him to a mere fraction of his former power. And for the hundreds of years that passed with him locked away, the world had changed so much to fit their vision. Industry, capitalism, consumerism, technology, a world writhing with movement and impossible to satisfy, he could feel it all.

Markus may no longer have the power to act, but he was still connected to the Earth and he could feel her groan under the pressure of the creatures that swarmed her skin and fed off of her flesh. The only small comfort he took was in his current location. Not the deep catacombs of the church that he was locked up underneath, but the thick, remote forest that surrounded it. There was naught but a small village with less than one hundred people populating it for thousands of acres in every direction. Although not complete, the relative isolation was somewhat of a comfort to Markus and the nature that he could not touch with his own hands, but could at least be aware of, soothed the anger in his soul.

Or it would, if the bittersweet sensation was not made sour as the lustful thoughts of a priest preying on one of the village children walking by outside sent Markus into a rage. 

_ 'So small and innocent. I want to steal that innocence and slowly suffocate it from his lungs with my hands around his throat as I fill him up. I want to break him.' _

The bound deity thrashed violently against the barbed chains holding him down, but it was in vain and only caused him to bleed crimson tears from his pores. He had to focus on something else. It was all he could do.

The tendrils of his mind withdrew from the church above him and reached out to observe something else. Something closer. The first thing they touched were the small voices of the rats scurrying across the stone floors of the catacombs, searching for food.

_ 'Hungry. Hungry. We are hungry.' _

_ 'We need food. Feed us.' _

_ 'Not that. Do not eat the bound creature. His flesh is poison to us.' _

_ 'Hungry. Hungry. So hungry.' _

_ 'I’m so hungry, I need something. Anything. Nothing ever satisfies the hunger, but I have to try. I can’t stand it anymore. Maybe they keep something hidden down here. So hungry. So hu-' _

The inner voice of the creature stopped abruptly as the other’s around it carried on. Markus lifted his head towards the source of the solitary consciousness, mildly interested in the sudden halt of thought he had been latching on to. The blindfold over his eyes kept him from seeing, but when a distinctly human voice trembled from the dark, Markus couldn’t help but become immensely curious. This was no rat.

“Wh- what are you?”

What. Not who. How interesting. Perhaps Markus had enough power in him after all to still radiate an energy that was distinctly inhuman.

“I am forgotten,” he replied slowly. “You don’t belong here.”

Markus could tell that this was not one of the priests or monks that kept the church and it’s secrets. As he analyzed the man’s essence further, he found that he was not one of the familiar souls that numbered themselves among the villagers either. But even more puzzling than the fact that he was a stranger, was that Markus was unable to get anything more than just an ambiguous interpretation of him. Somehow, he was closed off and remained quite a mystery to the ancient deity.

“Who are you?” Markus resorted to asking, since he could not read the man like he normally could others.

There was silence for a moment, but Markus was patient. “… My name is Simon,” the enigma finally answered.

“Why are you here, Simon?”

“I… I was hungry. I hoped the clergy would have some food stored in an underground pantry somewhere around here that I might be able to…” Simon’s voice was saturated with guilt as he hesitated to confess his intentions. “… to steal from them,” he finally admitted.

A slow, wry smile twisted Markus’ lips until they parted to reveal his teeth and a low, malevolent laugh stirred the dust and cobwebs of the catacomb chamber he was bound in. Despite the as-of-yet unexplained ability his visitor had to conceal much of his mind from Markus, the pagan deity could still feel the shiver run up his spine and the clammy sweat that made his skin cold and tingle with goosebumps at the dark vibration of Markus’ chuckle. He reveled in the man’s fear, feeling powerful again, even if only a little. However, once his laughter faded and died, he reassured the mortal.

“Do not feel guilty for stealing from thieves, rapists, and murderers. Their self-proclaimed saint status is nothing but a lie.”

Silence followed Markus’ words, and gradually, the humor left his expression as he lowered his head back down. The pagan God wasn’t sure what he was expecting after that. Perhaps Simon would leave. After all, there was no sustenance to be found here. Only death dwelled in these tunnels. Of every possible action he might have perceived from the mortal, hearing his footsteps slowly getting closer was not something Markus anticipated.

“Be careful,” he warned, causing the steps to falter.

“Careful of what?” the mortal’s voice sounded close enough that Markus could reach out and touch him if his hands weren’t crossed and bound beneath him.

“Did you ever think to wonder why I am chained down here?”

More silence echoed loudly off of the stone walls, and then… “I don’t care. It’s not right to have someone chained up in a cellar like this. You’re in pain, let me help you.”

The footsteps came closer and he could hear the sound of fabric sliding against itself as Simon crouched down next to him. Markus growled. It was a deep, guttural sound, much like an animal’s but somehow even less human and the reverberations made the walls of the chamber shake slightly. More fear radiated out from the mortal kneeling next to him.

“You’re making a mistake, human,” the God warned.

A few shaky breaths from Simon heated the skin on Markus’ back as the man hesitated yet again. But then one of the barbed chains tugged against his flesh, ripping into Markus’ skin as the mortal attempted to pull one of the pegs it was connected to out of the ground. What a foolish creature. Markus was delighted by his reckless courage.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said through a smirk as the nail finally pulled free with Simon’s yanking motions and pain seared through him as the barbs from the chain bit Markus’ flesh once more before being removed from him.

Simon said nothing as he crossed to the other side of the bound God and began tugging at another anchor holding him down. Unfortunately, his motions were halted as the sound of frantic footsteps and voices echoed from the catacombs outside their chamber. The priests knew.

“Someone has broken in! Find them and kill them, quick!”

“Kill them?”

“Yes. If they are down here at all they could already know too much. We can’t risk it. Find them!”

Markus knew the catacombs were a maze, but a small one. It might take a while for the priests to reach them, but it was still urgent that Simon leave if he wanted to survive.

“Stop. You need to run, Simon,” the deity hissed.

The tugging on the chain did not stop, but only became more desperate. “I can get you free before they get here.”

“No!” Markus snapped. “Didn’t you hear them? They are going to kill you.”

The nail pulled free from the ground. There was only one left. Simon quickly ran behind Markus to begin pulling at it without replying. The last anchor was stubborn, and Markus could hear the mortal grunt several times as he yanked on it but only managed to make it wiggle slightly in the ground. Then the sound of the chamber door being thrown open made Markus grit his teeth and snarl at the filthy soul that entered.

“What have you done?” the priest screamed at Simon, who was still valiantly pulling on the last chain tethering Markus to this cursed holy ground.

“Kill him!” Another priest shrieked.

Markus felt the despicable auras of the so-called holy men lunge at his rescuer and violently throw him to the ground. Feeling pure rage course through his veins, Markus hoped that the two seals that had already been broken would allow him enough strength to break the third. He thrashed and writhed against his constraints, thrilled that enough of his power had returned to him now that he could take on a new form.

The vengeful God’s jaw unhinged, revealing endless rows of sharp, jagged teeth. Several more sets of arms burst forth from his back as clawed fingers dug into the earth and powerful fists slammed down against the ground. One of his new appendages reached up to his face to tear the blindfold off, revealing a set of eight multi-colored eyes with goat-like pupils. As he strained against the chain holding him down, his back arched and elongated as the disks in his spine multiplied and divided, sprouting six tails that all wrapped tightly around the final peg in the ground and violently ripped it from it’s hold, flinging it directly into the skull of one of the priests in one fluid motion and sending a spray of blood and brains into the face of the monk behind him.

A deafening, otherworldly roar that carried the sound of millions of tortured screams with it shook the very foundation of the church and reverberated throughout the entire forest for miles as Markus was freed from his prison. As he looked down at the tiny, pathetic holy men that were flooding into the chamber like insects to try and contain him, Markus simply opened his maw and began devouring them one by one. Teeth tore heads and limbs from bodies, shredding through muscle and tendons and crushing bones beneath the tremendous force of each bite.

A monk tried to throw holy water on Markus, making his bronze skin sizzle and burn but doing nothing more than irritate him, for he was no demon. He was a God. A set of long, sharp, black nails swiped at the man, piercing his torso in several places and pushing his intestines out of the holes left behind before the momentum of the strike sent him flying off of the claws and into a wall. His limp body collided with the hard stone, making a wet thud before falling to the ground, lifeless. 

Two more priests began reciting useless scripture at Markus and he simply slammed his fists down on them. Nothing recognizable was left behind as he pulverized their bodies effortlessly. Only a sickening, sticky paste of human remains smeared the floor where they once stood.

The last remaining holy man stood shaking in fear as he looked up at the massive, enraged God, muttering incoherently and marking a cross over his chest with his fingers. Markus grinned down at him with infinite teeth before swallowing him whole. He would be digested alive, agonizingly slow.

And then there were none.

A quiet whimper sounded from behind the deity, reminding him of his savior. As Markus slowly turned to face him, his body gradually shrunk and shifted back into that of a human. Though, he still dripped with blood, both his own and that of the vile  _ things _ he had just slaughtered.

“Simon…”

Markus took in the sight of his rescuer for the first time. He was beautiful. Blonde hair, fair skin, and impossibly clear, blue eyes that were tinged red at the lids with fatigue. What a handsome creature.

As Markus took careful steps closer to the trembling mortal, Simon scrambled backwards from him until he reached the cold stone wall behind him. Markus did not stop advancing, even when the attractive man made a feeble attempt to climb the stone bricks to get away. The ancient pagan God only came to a halt when he stood mere inches in front of the man pressing himself into the wall as if he could somehow become a part of it. Every muscle movement was precisely controlled as Markus slowly lowered himself down to kneel at the same level as Simon.

“Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you,” he whispered, reaching a bloodied hand out to cup Simon’s face and stroke his cheek with his thumb. “No. Not you. Never you.”

Simon’s lip quivered and a single tear fell from one of the crystal pools of his irises as he stared in horror at the deity in front of him. Markus’ thumb slid to run over his bottom lip and another word was thought so strongly by the mortal that Markus managed to catch it despite the mysterious veil that was still holding him back from full access to Simon’s mind.

_ 'Hungry' _

A single eyebrow was raised as Markus continued to stare at the still frightened man before him. The poor soul must be on the brink of starvation. Perhaps Markus could fix that. After all, he was a God of many things, and harvest was one of them.

“Shh. It’s alright,” he murmured leaning closer to Simon, so their faces were barely an inch apart now. “How can I ever repay my beloved savior? I know you are hungry. Would you like me to feed you?”

_ 'HUNGRY' _

The thought was so intense that it almost overwhelmed Markus’ senses, which was not a familiar feeling for the once almighty entity. But he supposed he was still in a very much weakened state at the moment. Besides, Simon’s inner voice wasn’t necessarily a bad sensation for the deity. In fact, he quite liked it, despite the tease of having to work to catch glimpses of it.

“Open your mouth,” Markus gently commanded.

In spite of Simon’s adamant thoughts of hunger, his body didn’t seem to match up with his mind. He was still too afraid of Markus. The blonde shut his lips tightly, biting down on them and turning his face away from the God. Markus frowned, but was patient. He carefully guided Simon’s gaze back to him, wrapping his fingers around his chin and lightly pulling his face towards him.

“Open your mouth,” he repeated, this time with a more demanding, though still not threatening, tone.

Markus was quite pleased when Simon finally obeyed, tentatively parting his lips for the deity. What little space they had between them before was soon filled up as Markus leaned forward and pressed his mouth against Simon’s. He sealed his lips around the man’s own before letting a stream of liquid mana flow from his throat into Simon’s. Half lidded heterochromatic eyes watched as the mortal reacted with surprise at first, but then relaxed and began to greedily swallow the nourishment Markus was providing him. Simon’s long lashes fluttered, and his pretty ocean blue hues rolled heavenwards. A content moan served as thanks to the pagan God as the man’s hunger was satiated.

“Was that enough to fill you up?” Markus asked, leaving a string of thick white liquid connecting their lips as he pulled away.

Simon panted, still shaking slightly from the shock of everything but nodding his head languidly at Markus. The God ran a dusky colored thumb across his rescuer’s lips as if to wipe away the saliva and mana, but instead only smearing the blood still on his hands in with it. Even with his face stained like this, Markus found the mortal quite attractive, perhaps even more so.

“What…” Simon’s voice came out in slow, ragged breaths. “What are you?”

His question was graced with an ominous grin from Markus as he answered. “I am one of the old Gods. Your kind used to offer me prayers concerning war, wrath, justice, equality and balance, virility, nurturing, harvest, creation, inspiration, self-awareness and understanding, for these are the things I am a God of.”

The expression on Markus’ face slowly morphed into a cold, mournful anger and his voice became quieter. “But then the followers of the new God – the false God – they came and massacred my people. They burned my followers at the stake. Men, women, children, it didn’t matter. I couldn’t save any of them, because they had lured me into a trap and caged me here where I could no longer protect those who had sworn themselves to me. And as my people were destroyed, the priests hunted down all traces of me, all knowledge, every text, scroll and book, and they burned it along with the corpses of my followers until there was nothing left.”

Simon’s eyes were locked onto Markus as he listened intently to every word. “They didn’t want you gaining any more followers.” Although his voice was timid, it was a statement, not a question.

“No. They knew the more followers I had, the more powerful I would be. As I am now, with not a soul devoted to my name, I am only a fraction of what I used to be,” Markus replied softly.

Several long seconds of silence stretched on into minutes as they both sat on the hard ground of the catacomb chamber, surrounded by what was left of the priests. Markus had let his green and blue eyes fall to the blood-stained floor as he mourned the loss of his people. Even hundreds of years after he’d lost them, he still carried the weight of each and every one of their broken souls heavily in his heart.

Simon’s soft voice finally broke the silence, and when it did, Markus looked up at him with intrigue. “I know it’s not much but… What if you could gain at least one new follower?”

Gradually, a smirk formed on Markus’ lips as he leaned closer to Simon again, pressing his body against him to purr in his ear. “You would be foolish to devote yourself to a God that is dead to the world.”

Markus relished the way Simon squirmed uncomfortably beneath him and swallowed thickly. “I don’t care,” the mortal said defiantly, the strength in his voice acting as a stark contrast to his body language.

Markus cast him a doubtful look. “You really want to worship me?”

“Why not? You seem a better God to worship than theirs,” Simon said, glancing at the mutilated corpses of the priests and monks strewn across the room with some measure of unease. “At least I know you’re real.”

Markus smiled at this. Perhaps his savior wasn’t as stupid as many of the other mortals were. Leaning back away from Simon, Markus pushed himself off the ground and stood to full height as he looked down at the blonde man.

“If you are sure that I am what you truly desire, you can always make a burnt offering to me in the forest.”

A roguish smile flashed across Markus features before Simon blinked. In that split second, the ancient deity vanished. When Simon’s eyes opened again, he was the only living soul left in the catacombs among the corpses of the dead. 


	2. Sacrificial Craving

Freedom, after so long, was finally his. Markus reached out and touched every plant, animal, and living soul on the planet all at once. They would feel a slight tingle, but nothing more as he passed through their unaware consciousnesses and took in everything they ever were or would be. He breathed life into the Earth herself just to let her know he was still here and now he could care for her again. When the time came for each corner of the globe to have it’s turn, Spring would hit early and would provide an abundance of crops and births, setting new records for every nation. Then Markus reached out further and felt the burn of millions of stars fill him with energy as he spread out across the universe like a blanket, touching everything across time and space.

Everything except a certain mortal with eyes like crystal clear pools of water on a tropical summer afternoon. Why, no matter how hard he tried, could Markus not connect to this one soul the same way he could everything else? If he wasn’t right there physically watching Simon, it was as if he didn’t exist at all.

So, Markus withdrew himself back down to the churchyard of the place he’d been bound and took the form of a white, six eyed crow. He perched himself high up in a tree and watched the entrance of the church for any signs of his savior. Several minutes passed and Markus grew restless, flapping his wings and shifting on the branch his talons gripped. But then, finally, the large double doors of the church opened, and a still slightly dazed blonde man came stumbling out, shielding his eyes from the blinding light of the sun that was just beginning to set over the mountains.

Markus watched as he looked around the parking lot at the cars of the now dead men whose corpses were still hidden down in the catacombs and beginning to rot there. It was late enough any of the villagers in the town surrounding the church were heading home for the night, if not already gone. Most of their homes were scattered throughout the area deeper in the forest so the town itself was quite empty at this time. Simon was alone.

Continuing to observe from afar with six curious eyes, Markus kept silent as Simon approached one of the vehicles, glancing in one of the windows, and then another before leaving it to check the next one. He did this with several cars before stopping at one and pressing his hands against the glass to try and get a better look. He must have found something he liked, because soon he was reaching into his jacket and pulling out a pocket knife that had a window breaker installed into the butt of the handle.

The mortal then proceeded to slam it into the window of the passenger side door, sending a circular web of cracks out from the point of contact and weakening the glass. Once that was done, he took a step back, pocketing the knife again before kicking the window and sending the safety glass and sheet of laminated plastic between them spilling into the seat inside. It seemed like this wasn’t his first time doing this as he took his jacket off and laid it across the bottom of the window to protect himself from any stray shards that might still remain and climbed through.

If a crow could smile, this one’s black beak would be twisted into a wide grin as it watched with amusement while Simon’s legs dangled out of the car and he shuffled around inside, grabbing items. Once he had all that he wanted, Simon slid back out with his arms full of objects before snatching his jacket up and shaking it out. He then placed the items in the jacket and wrapped it up to carry them in a bundle as he turned towards the forest nearby and walked towards it with a sense of purpose.

Markus spread his wings and took to the skies, following behind the mortal as he ventured deeper and deeper into the woods. Eventually he could see the top of that blonde head of hair come to stop in front of a large oak tree with a twisted trunk that spiraled upwards like a corkscrew. The sunset behind the tree filtered beams of harsh crimson light through its leaves onto the man’s face as he emptied the contents of his jacket onto the ground in front of the great oak.

The God bird landed on a branch high up in the twisted tree without a sound and gazed down at Simon, observing in secret. As the mortal slipped his jacket back on, Markus could see the items that he had gathered from the priest’s car. In a pile on the ground lay a bible, a bag of beef jerky, a wad of cash that looked to be one dollar bills tied together with a rubber band (Markus knew this particular priest had been a regular at one of the strip clubs down in the nearest city and that was exactly what that money was for), a small baggy of white powder that Markus knew to be a common drug among the people of this age, and a red marker.

Simon took the marker and the bible and began to deface it’s pages with crude drawings of the beastly form Markus himself had taken when he murdered the man who owned it. The God had to force himself not to let out a bird-like cackle of screeching laughter at the mortal’s actions. He wanted to remain unseen for the time being but found Simon’s efforts to be simply beautiful and highly entertaining.

Once the mortal was done scribbling in the pages of the holy book, he laid it down in the dirt, open and face up, before dumping the bag of beef jerky onto it. He rearranged some of the pieces, so they were closer together before licking his fingers and sucking off some of the flavor. The arousing sight caused the unnatural looking crow to lick its beak with a forked tongue absent-mindedly as Markus shifted forward on his perch to get a better look.

The baggy of cocaine was dumped out onto the bible as well, though Simon was careful not to touch the powder at all. Then, lastly, the rubber band was removed from the dollar bills and they were crumpled up one by one and tossed onto the bible and close around it. Once the offering was complete, Simon reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small lighter - the kind bought at gas stations for lighting cigarettes - and sparked up a flame. He held the light to the pages of the bible and waited a few seconds before it caught and began to burn, then took several steps backwards and watched the blaze.

Markus enjoyed the orange reflection of the flames in the mortal’s tired eyes for a few moments before accepting the offering. When he did, the crackling fire abruptly flared up and the flames turned green and breathed blue smoke into the sky. The items used were not nearly as important as the intent behind them, and Simon’s gesture was delicious to the God. He could tell that Simon had basically taken the objects from the dead priest as a final ‘fuck you’ on Markus’ behalf. Choosing items that would prove their sins and defiling the pages of the bible with Markus’ own image served as the icing on the cake.

As the offering was consumed by the cool shades of the otherworldly inferno, Simon’s eyes grew wide with shock at the sudden change before the corners of his mouth twitched upwards ever-so-slightly in excitement. He watched the fire for a few short seconds before tearing his gaze away to search the surrounding area for any signs of the deity his offering had been made to. Markus supposed he could make himself known now if that’s what his new follower was waiting for.

White feathers slowly retracted into Markus’ skin, replaced by pitch black fur. Wings and talons shifted into sleek but powerful feline legs and two long tails swished back and forth behind him as Markus took a form more akin to that of a jaguar. The God still couldn’t be recognized as any single earthly animal though, as a pair of antlers sprouted from his head, the tines looking like human ribcages in the blood-red glow of the sunset. Two mouths, one above the other, had lips pulled back to reveal sharp white teeth in a snarl as he leapt out of the tree, landing gracefully between Simon and the still burning offering.

Visibly startled, Simon jumped and took several fast steps away before tripping on some of the foliage of the forest floor and falling backwards. His eyes were wide with terror as a low rumble left Markus’ chest and he growled at him while slowly stalking the mortal trying to crawl backwards away from him. Crouching down and letting the tension build in his hind legs, Markus got ready to pounce.

“Mar- M-my God?” Simon’s voice shook just as violently as his body did, but his words were drowned by a scream as Markus leapt on top of him.

Powerful, clawed paws that were short enough to not be called fingers but long enough not to be quite like a cat’s toes pinned Simon’s shoulders down as the beast’s double mouths opened. Two long tongues, patterned with black, horizontal stripes, began running over Simon’s face and throat affectionately. Markus’ posture relaxed as he laid his heavy frame across the mortal lazily and a loud purring vibrated out from Markus' chest and against Simon's whole body as he lovingly licked his follower.

Markus could feel Simon’s chest heave as he drew in deep breaths. Whether it was because Markus was so heavy, he was pushing the air out of his lungs, or because Simon was just so scared he couldn’t breathe properly, it was unclear. At some point the mortal had closed his eyes, probably accepting his fate and assuming he was about to be devoured by the creature now on top of him. But through the scrunched up, fearful expression on his face, one eye slowly peeked open to look up at the grinning God as one of his tongues ran across the other eye that was still closed.

“You… I thought you were…” Simon’s expression morphed from fear, to confusion, to anger. “I thought you were about to eat me!” he shouted in a tone of accusation.

An  _ almost _ human laugh left Markus, echoing from both of his mouths. “I could if you would like.”

As his slender fingers curled into the grass underneath him, Simon seemed disturbed by such intelligent words coming from a monstrous beast and he muttered, “no, thank you. I’d like to live if that’s alright with you."

“I never said I’d kill you,” Markus said with two wolfish grins. When Simon looked puzzled, he leaned down and purred “would you like me to eat you?” in a sensual voice. 

The offer seemed to click for Simon this time as realization turned his cheeks red and he squirmed deliciously underneath Markus. It was almost as if he was  _ trying _ to turn the God on as his hips thrust upwards in short bursts. But he was attempting to disguise the movement as an effort to wiggle out from underneath Markus. Of course, he didn't get far as Markus pressed himself against the mortal, firmly holding him in place. It was a feeble attempt anyways, but Simon continued to writhe underneath him.

“The way you are moving is certainly appetizing," Markus teased.

The God laughed again as Simon suddenly stopped his wriggling and stared up at him with embarrassment and what Markus thought might just be a twinge of irritation. “Could you please stop looking like… whatever the hell this is supposed to be? It’s freaking me out,” the mortal said, trying to sound brave but missing the mark by just a hair.

“Very well.” It only took a few seconds for Markus to complete the metamorphosis into his human form.

“Thank you,” Simon said softly, taking in a long, ragged breath once he was done. “Do you think you could use your God powers to give yourself some clothes now?”

Markus looked down at his naked body still laying overtop of Simon’s own clothed frame with a disinterested look before returning his gaze to Simon’s pretty eyes. “I could.”

Simon waited a few seconds before letting his face fall into an unamused frown. “You aren’t going to though, are you.”

“No, I don’t think I will,” he grinned back, running his hands up Simon's arms from his shoulders to his wrists before taking them in his grasp firmly and raising them just above either side of the mortal's head, holding them there.

“You think you’re cute, don’t you?” Simon's voice was a breathy whisper as he tilted his head up slightly and raised a single, amused eyebrow at his God.

“Oh, I  _ know _ I am. I only wish I could say I know  _ you _ think I'm cute too.” Markus shifted himself up higher on Simon and propped himself up with his hands still pressing the mortal's wrists against the ground next to his head. “How are you keeping me out?”

Simon’s expression was that of confusion as he looked up at Markus. “What do you mean?”

“I am a God, Simon. I can read every thought of each individual person and creature on this planet simultaneously without batting an eye. And yet, there’s some kind of wall holding me back from yours. The only time I get even a fraction of a glimpse inside your head is when you think something so strongly that it bleeds through somehow.”

The blonde man stared up at him quietly for a suspiciously long time, his face completely devoid of emotion. Then, finally, he looked to the side with half lidded eyes and apathetic eyebrows. His voice was dripping with sarcasm when he spoke.

“You caught me. I’m an escaped KGB experiment. They trained me to be immune to psychic attacks. I can’t even control it. I’m sorry, you’ll never get inside my head. I’m just too powerful.”

An almighty God should not be capable of having as dumb a look cross his face as Markus did in that moment. He looked at the mortal with an expression caught between doubt and actually wondering if that could be a probable reason for his inability to read Simon’s thoughts. The dryness of Simon’s words and the deadpan stare he gave Markus only made the God more gullible. But, as a slow smile spread over Simon’s lips, Markus became sure that he was indeed only joking.

“You’re full of shit. Tell me the real reason,” growled Markus before shifting the mortal's wrists above his head to grip them with one hand and playfully, but also a bit roughly, grabbing a handful of blonde hair with the other hand and tugging it back so Simon’s chin jutted up at him and he was forced to expose his throat.

“I don’t know!” A small, nervous titter accompanied the exclamation and goosebumps ran across his pale skin as the way Simon swallowed made the Adam’s apple dip on his slender neck. When Markus leered at him suspiciously, he repeated himself. “I honestly don’t know. I didn’t even realize you could read thoughts, though I guess it makes sense for a God to be able to do that. But if you can’t read mine, I have no clue as to why that would be.”

Markus continued to frown down at him but supposed if the mortal himself didn’t know then he may just have to accept it for what it was. At least for now. His fingers unfurled from the blonde locks and he let them gently slide downwards, brushing Simon’s ear as they came to gently trace the line of his square jaw and then stroke the side of his neck. 

No thoughts transferred over as Markus tried to read him again, but at least he could grasp the tingling sensation the mortal felt spreading from Markus' touch through his entire body. Simon simply laid there and let the deity touch him as he stared up at Markus with mesmerizing blue hues filled with wonder and awe… and a hungry lust. Markus liked the look in his mortal’s eyes. Eyes that belonged to him now that Simon had made the offering and was an official follower of the God.

“You never told me what I can call you,” the blonde said, breaking the silence. “Do I just call you God? I feel like that might make people think I’m talking about the Christian God and I don’t want that.”

Markus smirked and lowered himself back down on Simon so their chests were touching again before using the back of his hand to stroke the mortal’s cheek. “You may call me Markus.”

“That sounds kind of ordinary." Simon leaned into his touch and fluttered his eyelashes seductively. "I didn’t expect to be on a first name basis with a God.”

Markus’ grin grew wider as he leaned his face closer to Simon’s, their lips just barely brushing each other as he spoke. “It has more meaning than you know. But I like being on a first name basis with you. In fact, I’d like to be even closer with you.”

“Laying naked on top of me isn’t enough, huh?” Simon said with his own smirk.

“Oh, no. Not when I could do so much more to you,” purred Markus in a low, husky tone.

Despite Simon’s lack of any retort, Markus could feel the mortal’s heart beating fast in his chest and a hot tension radiating from the spot where their groins pressed against each other. There was a definite bulge in the mortal's pants and Markus couldn't help but press himself against it, applying just a little more pressure there. But as Markus watched Simon's beautiful blue eyes fill with reluctant desire, he cocked his head to the side slightly and frowned. Sometimes Markus hated how intimidating his God status could be for mortals. He just wanted Simon to give in to him completely, but he could see the hesitancy in his expression, only confirmed by the way Simon's next words distracted from the lust they were both feeling for each other.

“It’s getting dark. I need to find shelter.” Simon indicated his head towards the sky that was already a navy blue and starting to fill with stars.

“You don’t have an established home?” Markus asked with a frown, making no move to get off of the man.

“I’m a bit of a nomad. I travel around a lot and make wherever I happen to be at the end of the day my home.” Simon’s smile was warm as he explained.

“You like this lifestyle?”

“I do,” was his simple answer.

“Very well.” Markus finally pushed himself off of the blonde and stood up, gazing down at the mortal as the last bit of dying light slowly sunk down behind the horizon. “If you need to call upon me, all you have to do is pray my name.”

Simon pushed himself into a sitting position and looked up at Markus, nodding his head in a weak attempt to disguise the way his eyes trailed up and down Markus' exposed body. When he blinked, the view was gone, at least from Simon’s perceptions. Markus continued to watch him from an invisible plane of existence as Simon eventually stood and walked over to check on the last smoldering remains of the offering he’d made. It was nothing but embers now, but they glowed the same shade of blue as Simon’s eyes.


	3. Consuming Sin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the most triggering chapter so I'm putting a summary for those who want to skip the explicit parts and just get a quick run down so they aren't out of the loop on what happened. If you'd rather read this and move to the next chapter, great. If you'd rather read the chapter without spoilers, do not read the summary provided between the dividing dotted lines.
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> Simon returns to the church with intentions of taking up shelter there. Two priests survived the slaughter and hid from Markus in the confession booth. When they see Simon return, they continue to hide until he falls asleep, then they sneak up on him. They gag him and hold him down before raping him together. When Simon finally gets the chance to call for Markus' help, Markus is furious and rains hell on the priests, killing them both. After rescuing Simon, he carries him off into the woods.
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The chamber of the catacombs that had once held the devil creature was now covered in blood and the dead bodies of the other priests and monks. Even the high ceilings were splattered with red. Only two priests remained alive and it was only because they had been cowards and refused to follow the others down into the catacombs when they’d been called to find the intruder. The deafening roar that echoed up from below them during the slaughter that took place under their feet only solidified their resolve to hide away until things quieted down again.

They remained hidden in the confessional booth even when they watched through the thin slats of the box as a blonde-haired stranger, that could only be the intruder, stumbled up the stairs and through the chapel. It was only after the man disappeared from their view and had been gone for several minutes that the two priests had been brave enough to venture down into the basement level of the church and discover the carnage there.

One of them had added to the mess of gore by throwing up upon seeing the mutilated, unrecognizable remains left behind. They could only stand the sight for mere seconds before turning tail and running back up the stairs to the surface. Once back in the chapel, the first priest hit the floor, falling to his knees and retching again. The other leaned against the doorway behind him, looking green as well, but managing to hold the contents of his stomach inside.

“What the fuck! They’re all dead. That… that  _ thing _ must have killed them,” the priest on the floor said with a shaking voice as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“The trespasser must have let it loose,” the other replied, staring at the wall in shock.

“Hundreds of years have passed without incident and several generations of us have been able to keep it locked up, and then one witless outsider waltzes right in and  _ frees it! _ ” The priest on the floor slowly stood on wobbly legs as he hissed the words hatefully.

“What are we going to do? If it’s loose, we have to do something. We can’t just le-“

The priest was cut off as the other laughed like a mad man. “Oh, no. No, we aren’t going to do anything. We are going to pack up our shit and get as far away from this place as possible and pray to almighty God that the fucking abomination doesn’t come looking for us!”

“But who knows what it could do now that it’s free! We can’t just leave the people of this village to die if it decides to do to them what it did to the rest of us.” Despite the holy man’s sins and vices, he at least had enough of a conscience to not want all those people to die such horrible deaths.

It seemed the other priest had no such obligations. “Oh, yes, we can. And we will.” He turned to leave the chapel.

“Where are you going?” the other man called after him, hesitating before following behind.

“I told you, I’m leaving this place before the monster comes back.”

“What are you going to do once you’ve left? Where are you going to go?” It seemed the other priest hadn’t contemplated this, as he stopped and threw a perturbed glance back. “We should at least see if we can break into the collections safe where all the tithes are kept. Then we will have some money to live off of after we leave.”

“Fine.” The two of them headed back inside, one grumbling under his breath about how they needed to hurry.

It was unfortunate for them that the safe was locked and neither of them had the combination. They spent at least an hour trying different numbers and eventually resorting to finding a crowbar and attempting to open it that way. It didn’t budge and their struggle devolved from prying to merely beating the metal box with the bar. That did not help their efforts either.

“Stop. Stop! It’s not working,” one of them shouted, holding the other back from his assault on the safe. “We have to find another wa-“

The sound of the large double doors of the church house opening and closing a few rooms away had them both falling silent. The two holy men strained their ears as footsteps echoed on the stone floors. As the sound drew closer, both men’s eyes grew wide with panic.

“Quick, hide!” One of the priests pulled the other out of the alcove behind the chapel where the safe was contained.

The footsteps were just outside the chapel doors now, and the holy men realized that there was nowhere for them to run except back down to the catacombs or in their original hiding place of the confessional booth. Neither was eager to go back down to the dark place of death beneath the church, so they scrambled over each other to climb into the large box. They shut the booth door just in time for the chapel doors to open.

Peeking through the thin slats, the two of them watched silently as a figure entered the dark room. Pale light from the moon shining in through the stained-glass windows was just barely enough to illuminate the man as he timidly walked alongside the pews. He seemed unsure of himself as he slowly came closer, glancing down at the rows of seats when he passed them as if looking for something.

The priests held their breath as he walked right past them, completely unaware of their presence but close enough that even in the dark they could see his light colored hair almost made to look silver by the cool glow of the moonlight and his pale blue eyes reflecting the stars. He continued on, never noticing them through the little cracks of the confessional, as he made his way to the end of the pews. Both men observed as he left them behind, eventually stopping at the foot of the altar.

There, the stranger looked up at the large cross with a sculpture of the messiah hanging from it and a crown of thorns adorning its head. The man stood there, staring for several minutes with his arms wrapped around himself in complete silence. Both priests were aware that this was the man that had set the demonic beast free, but neither could bring themselves to do anything but observe as they remained hidden from his view.

Finally, the figure looked away from the statue and let his gaze turn towards the podium. There was a sheet of thick purple fabric covering it, mere decoration, that the stranger pulled off of the podium and examined. His gaze then fell to the floor before he lowered himself to the ground and spread the fabric underneath him. He then took his jacket off before curling into a lying position on the podium cover and draping his coat over his shoulders like a blanket.

Both of the priests exchanged nervous glances at each other from inside the confession booth before returning to watching the man on the chapel floor shift to get comfortable. It seemed clear that he intended to sleep there for the night. One of the priests mouthed a silent curse while the other quietly sat down on the bench inside the box they were hiding in and put his head in his hands.

There was nothing they could do but wait it out if they didn’t want to alert the intruder to their presence. The priest who remained standing shifted carefully to lean against the wall, watching the man and waiting for him to fall asleep so they could hopefully slip out unnoticed once he was soundly unconscious. At least that was the original plan the priest had.

The longer he watched the man curled up with his hands under his head and his long lashes casting shadows down his pale cheeks, the more he just wanted to stay there in hiding and watch him dream. As the stranger’s breathing grew shallower and his pretty lips parted slightly, the priest could tell he was finally asleep. Instead of alerting the other man in the confession booth with him, the first priest slowly dipped his fingers under his belt and began stroking himself to the sight of the precious figure laying so vulnerable just a few feet away.

He looked so peaceful and innocent. So fragile. So easy to take advantage of. The priest continued to pleasure himself, watching hungrily as he imagined all the things he could do to the blissfully unaware stranger sleeping so close to him that he only had to open the door and take a few steps before he would be close enough to rape him and choke that slender neck of his.

“What are you doing?” The whispered voice of the other priest behind him was barely even audible but still made the man jump.

There was no answer as the priest looked over his shoulder for only a few seconds before returning his attention to the slumbering figure outside the confessional and the growing task in his hand. His breathing was heavy as he gripped the wall of the confessional with the hand he wasn’t using to pleasure himself. The other priest slowly stood up and moved closer than he already was in the small space. At first, he seemed horrified when he realized that his partner in hiding was masturbating, but then he looked out the slats to see what he was jerking off to and suddenly became just as mesmerized by the sleeping man.

“You shouldn’t… it’s a sin.” The whispered words were a pathetic protest as the second priest made his own desires apparent by the way he licked his lips after speaking and continued to stare greedily at the target of both holy men’s lust.

“Fuck that. I think the shit that happened down in the catacombs is proof enough that God has already forsaken us. There’s no reason not to sin now.” The priest still stroking himself muttered back before carefully pushing the booth door open.

The second priest watched with morbid curiosity as he silently followed the other sneaking man towards the sleeping figure on the floor. The first priest carefully knelt beside the blonde stranger, being sure not to wake him as the holy man pulled his dick out of his pants and began stroking it dangerously close to the intruder’s face. Soon the second priest was just as aroused and crept closer, kneeling on the other side of the dreaming man and beginning to touch himself as well.

Even though the man on the floor was still fast asleep, his dreams must have taken a turn for the worse, because a soft sound of distress escaped his lips and his eyebrows furrowed. This somehow encouraged the priests and one after the other they pressed their erections against the blonde’s face, smearing their precum on his mouth and cheeks. It was no surprise when the sensation caused the man’s sleep to be disturbed and he let out another groggy whimper as his eyes fluttered open.

A few disoriented noises escaped the stranger before the priests quickly forced him down and restrained him. The first priest climbed on top of the blonde to straddle his hips, pressing their crotches together while wrapping his hands around his throat. The other priest grabbed his wrists and held them tightly against the ground with one hand while stuffing his cock into the alarmed intruder’s mouth to stifle any shouts for help he attempted to make.

“Stop choking him! We don’t want to kill him,” the second priest said as the blonde struggled and gagged underneath him.

“Why the fuck not? He’s the one that let the monster loose and got all the others slaughtered. Why shouldn’t we kill him?” the other hissed back, tightening his grip on the man’s throat and grinding his hips up against him.

A panicked scream was muffled by the hands choking him and the engorged dick in the stranger’s mouth but both holy men ignored it as the second priest tried for a different argument. “Well, your hands are closing off his throat too much. I can’t fit my cock in far enough. Besides, you need your hands to pull his pants down, so quit choking him.”

The blonde writhed underneath the two men, still trying to escape, but neither of them let him up. The first priest was at least willing to oblige the request to stop choking him this time, if only to reach down and yank the intruder’s pants and underwear down roughly. Another choked scream was stifled as the second priest pushed himself deeper down his throat while the first priest lined himself up with the blonde’s asshole and thrust his dick inside violently. There was no warning or prep as the priests raped the man mercilessly.

To add insult to injury, the one fucking his ass wrapped his fingers around the blonde’s own dick and began stimulating an erection against his will. The priests only seemed to gain more pleasure from watching the mixed expressions of fear, pain, pleasure, and shame in the pretty man’s eyes. Watching the tears stream down his face was enough to send one of the priests over the edge and he ejaculated into the stranger’s mouth. The last few strands of cum spilled out onto his face as the second priest pulled out.

It was the last mistake he’d ever make.

“Markus, help me!” The blonde screamed as loud as his hoarse voice would allow, causing the spent priest to look down at him with dazed confusion as he recovered from his orgasm.

“Who the fuck is Markus?” he breathed out stupidly.

“I’m the vengeful God that’s about to send you to hell.”

There was barely even time for the priest to turn around and look at the deity as Markus appeared behind him and immediately shoved a barbed spike attached to the end of a long, sleek tail down the holy man’s throat. He continued to shove it deeper and deeper, tearing the flesh of his throat and lungs until he pierced through them, rupturing the organ from the inside before pulling out suddenly and violently. The priest fell to the floor, coughing up blood and crawling away while gripping at his chest and throat helplessly.

Markus pushed him to the side with an apathetic kick, ignoring him to advance towards the first priest, who was still balls deep in the blonde man but no longer moving. He was frozen in fear as Markus scowled down at him with fierce, loathing, mismatched eyes. The God leaned down and gripped the priest by the neck with strong fingers before slowly lifting him up, out and off of the blonde, with one hand. His feet dangled in the air as Markus choked him. 

The furious deity walked towards the statue of the messiah, bringing the priest with him before reaching out and pulling the crown of thorns off of the statue’s head. As he took the object, the human shape on the cross began to burn in green flames, igniting at Markus’ touch. It was consumed by the fire quickly and fell to ashes leaving nothing but a scorched cross behind.

Looking down at the crown of thorns in one hand, Markus pushed the priest against the cross and held him there as he struggled for air. The thorns on the crown grew longer and thicker, turning into large nails before the crown around them burned in green flames for a few short seconds as well. Soon it was just the hot spikes left behind and Markus thrust them into the priests hands and feet one by one, nailing him to the cross.

Once the priest was secured there, Markus let go of his throat, finally allowing him to breathe as he cried out in agony and pleaded for mercy. The God didn’t even grace him with a reply, as he turned away, leaving him there forgotten. Instead, Markus turned his attention to the other priest who was slowly bleeding out on the ground and barely holding onto consciousness anymore.

With one hand, Markus grabbed him by the collar and dragged him over to the cross as well, propping him up against the base of it underneath the other holy man. Markus then proceeded to tear the bleeding priest's pants off before using them to tie his wrists to the cross behind his back tightly. Once that was done, green flames began to consume both priests as terrible, shrieking screams of anguish left both of them.

Markus merely turned a blind eye to their suffering indifferently, walking away from the slowly dying men. He instead turned his attention to Simon, who was watching with wide, glossy eyes as tears streaked down his cheeks. In the time Markus had taken to punish his attackers, the beautiful man had pulled his clothes back on completely, but still seemed to feel vulnerable as his body language was closed off. His knees were pulled together, one over the top of the other to guard his groin and torso, while both arms were crossed to hug his chest as his fingers dug into his shoulders. His knuckles were white and his whole frame was trembling from the shock of his trauma.

Markus didn’t enjoy the fear in Simon’s eyes nearly as much this time as he cautiously approached. His form had only been slightly inhuman before, but now the spiked tail was gone and he looked just like a man, fully clothed this time. It was his hope that it would help Simon to be less afraid as he knelt down in front of him and held a hand out in silent offering to the mortal.

He was relieved when his beloved follower did not hesitate to take it, gripping his hand tightly as if holding on to life itself. Markus gently pulled Simon into his arms before lifting him off the ground and carrying him out of the chapel. The green flames continued to spread from the dead priests on the cross to the rest of the building, consuming everything they touched. Even the stone and metal of the church house was devoured in the fire as Markus took Simon away from the evil place.

The otherworldly green glow reached across the entire structure, right to the top of the steeple. It burned hotter than normal fire and made quick work of the church, leaving behind nothing but ash in its wake. Soon the green light faded and only the soft moonlight lit Markus’ path as he carried Simon into the forest.


	4. Starving Redeemer

There were no sounds, save for the crickets chirping and the frogs croaking by the lake in the distance as Markus carried Simon through the forest. The blonde was completely quiet, but Markus could still feel him shivering against his chest, despite the fact that the summer night air was warm. The God suspected that Simon’s body temperature had dropped because he’d gone into shock.

Markus shifted his form just enough to sprout two large wings, one black and one white, from his shoulder blades. He then folded them around Simon like a warm shield. The mortal remained silent but as Markus continued to walk through the forest, Simon’s trembling gradually subsided. He still clung to the God tightly, burying his face into the crook of his neck as if to hide there.

Eventually they reached a large cabin, vacant of any human souls. The entrance was locked, but this was no obstacle for the ancient deity and a wordless command had the door swinging open for him to enter with Simon. It was only when they were inside that Markus retracted his wings from existence and Simon timidly raised his head from Markus’ shoulder to look around. Using the same technique on the electric lights that he had on the locked door, Markus illuminated the room so the mortal could see better.

“Where are we?” Simon’s voice was barely a whisper, hoarse but still soft.

“In a  _ proper _ shelter, not a cursed church.” The pagan God struggled to keep the venom out of his own voice but wasn’t exactly successful as Simon looked at him anxiously. “This was a home to one of the priests. But since he won’t be needing it anymore, I’m claiming it as my own now,” Markus said, looking away from the pale blue abyss of Simon’s eyes.

He continued to avoid meeting the mortal’s gaze as he carried him through the cabin until they reached the bathroom. In spite of Markus making a point not to look into Simon’s eyes, he could feel the man’s own stare adamantly fixed on him. Markus ignored this in favor of lowering the blonde onto the edge of the bathtub and focusing on the spigot.

He vaguely knew that the mechanism was supposed to start the water pouring out and control the temperature of it. Through his connection with the Earth and all her many inhabitants, Markus had been able to observe the technology remotely, but he’d never actually used such a thing himself. Indoor plumbing hadn’t exactly been much of a thing back before he’d been bound underneath the church. It had existed, though was not as advanced or commonplace. Nor was it a thing that he’d ever needed to bother with since he wasn’t a mortal.

He fidgeted with the knobs awkwardly until he pieced together that twisting them started the water going. Even without being able to read his mind, Markus knew Simon was likely thinking the God to be a fool, as he could still feel the mortal watching him closely. Trying not to feel too embarrassed, Markus furrowed his eyebrows and let the cold water run over one hand as he tried to figure out how to adjust the temperature.

“Do you need help?” Despite the gentle, nonjudgmental tone in Simon’s voice, Markus still slapped his hand away rather roughly when he reached to assist.

“No!” he snapped, instantly regretting it the moment he finally looked at the mortal.

Markus might as well have slapped Simon directly in the face. His lip quivered and the look in his eyes reminded Markus of a child discovering that the world was cruel and unfair for the very first time. There was so much hurt reflected in those beautiful crystal hues that the tears they shed had the power to break even a God’s heart. All Markus could do was stare in horror at what he’d just done.

“… I’m Sorry,” Simon whispered, letting his gaze fall to the floor submissively as he held the hand that Markus had just swatted away to his chest.

“No, Simon. Don’t be sorry.” Markus’ tone was desperate as he turned away from the faucet, leaving the running water forgotten to focus on his beloved follower. “I’m the one that should be sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I’m just…”

Markus drew in a frustrated breath, furrowing his eyebrows. He didn’t want to hurt Simon any more by saying what he was thinking. Searching for the right words to ease the blow, he did his best to articulate his thoughts without it sounding like an attack on the mortal. He could only hope his words wouldn’t sting too much though, as he was aware there was no good way to put it.

“Why did you go back there, Simon?” he asked, knowing there was a tone of accusation in his voice and hating himself for it.

“I thought it was safe. I thought you’d killed them all and it was empty.” Simon’s voice was so small, it only made Markus feel like more of a monster, but he couldn’t stop himself from making it even worse.

“But, Simon, there were plenty of better alternatives! The village has buildings you could break into. There was even an inn you could have gone to.”

“I didn’t want to cause damage to any of the businesses by breaking in. All I have is a glass breaker. If I broke a window to get in, the owners would have to pay for repairs. I couldn’t do that to them when I knew the church was unlocked. I thought it was safe,” Simon repeated, his voice barely audible now but shaking as another tear fell from his lashes. “Besides, I don’t have any money to rent a room at the inn.”

More guilt twisted Markus’ stomach in knots as he realized that the cash Simon had burned in his offering could have been used at the inn. Instead the mortal had sacrificed it to him. It was Markus’ fault that Simon had returned to the church, and the deity had the gal to sit here and blame the mortal for the misfortune that was beyond his control. Simon had even been kind enough to consider the villagers and avoid inconveniencing them and Markus had rewarded his compassion with ignorance. He was a terrible God.

“Simon… I’m sorry. It’s not your fault. I never should have made you feel that it was. I never should have…” Markus faltered, turning his anger towards a more deserving target. “I never should have stopped watching you. I was so high on being free that I turned my attention elsewhere. I left you and turned a blind eye to the church because I was sick of it after being held there so long. It’s my fault those priests hurt you.”

This time it was the deity’s turn to let his gaze fall to the floor in shame. He’d known that those two priests had survived, hidden away out of his immediate reach when Simon had first freed him. He simply couldn’t be bothered to care because he was greedy and wanted to flee his prison as fast as he could. Markus never imagined that Simon would return to that damned place and the mistake had cost him dearly.

“No, Markus. It’s not your fault either. You couldn’t have known.” The warmth in Simon’s voice was unbelievable as he reassured the undeserving deity.

“I’m a God, Simon. I’m supposed to know everything,” he countered, some of the frustration returning to his tone.

Simon’s eyes darted to the side and Markus could have sworn there was a good measure of guilt in his expression. “But you can’t connect to me like you do everything else,” he uttered softly.

The two of them fell silent and for several long moments the only sound was the water running from the faucet into the bathtub and down the drain uselessly. Simon kept his gaze averted as the God stared at him without a word. Suddenly Markus had suspicions that the mortal had been lying before and he actually did know why the God couldn’t access his mind. He simply wasn’t sure if now was the proper time to address this with the man, knowing that he was still emotionally fragile from being traumatized. Markus had probably put enough baseless blame on him for one night. Simon didn’t need any more accusations upsetting him, especially if they turned out to be unjustified.

A tired sigh came from Markus as he finally turned his attention back to the water. “Let’s just agree that it’s no one’s fault but the priests that did it to you, and their crimes have been sufficiently punished,” he said, returning to the annoying task of trying to get the bath temperature right. “You’ll never have to worry about them hurting you again. I made sure of that,” he added, his tone taking on a bit of bitterness at the reminder of the despicable men.

“You did.” Simon’s soft voice sounded from closer beside the God and he turned his head to see that the blonde had moved to lean against him, reaching across Markus, and letting pale hands guide his own dusky fingers in adjusting the temperature. “Thank you for saving me from them.”

Markus couldn’t help but feel the familiar warmth of desire at the blonde’s touch and his dual toned eyes darted down to the lips that were so close to his own now. He felt a bit guilty for having such thoughts when Simon had just been involuntarily put through such a horrible sexual experience not even an hour ago. But the attractive man was leaning so close, and entirely of his own free-will. It was like he  _ wanted _ Markus to get sexually frustrated at his touch.

He couldn’t do that to Simon though. He may be a God, but he was not an unjust God and he wouldn’t take advantage of his beloved follower. In an attempt to distract himself from his own selfish cravings, Markus cleared his throat and forced his eyes back up to meet Simon’s. 

“I just wish I’d been there fast enough to stop them from-“ 

Simon cut him off by pressing a slender finger to his lips. “Shush. You were enough for me.”

The way the man slowly dragged his finger down, gently tugging at Markus’ bottom lip, made it  _ incredibly _ difficult to keep himself in line. How could a mere mortal hold so much power over an almighty celestial being such as himself with nothing but a single finger? He was a  _ God _ , and yet he was struggling with everything in him to keep from taking the other man right then and there and doing unspeakable things to him.

The realization that his temptations made him no better than the vile priests that had raped Simon made him feel sick with himself. Perhaps he’d been locked up under that church and forced to endure the corrupt thoughts of his captors for so long that their tainted desires had poisoned him into becoming just like them. Markus refused to give in and sink to their level. He was a  **_God_ ** , damn it. He was better than this.

“If the water is warm enough for you, I’ll let you have some privacy to clean yourself of their filth,” he said, abruptly standing and turning to leave the room.

He made it to the door and had pulled it open, halfway through the threshold before the sound of Simon’s devastated voice stopped him dead in his tracks. “Don’t leave me!”

Slowly, Markus turned back around to face him. The pleading distress in those beautiful eyes felt like the barbed chains that had sealed him away in the catacombs for so long had wrapped around his heart and tore it right out of his chest. It was as if this mortal had trapped him all over again and he was powerless to fight against the ocean blue eyes that kept Markus bound to him.

“Please, Markus… don’t leave me again,” Simon begged through a ragged breath. “I- I’m sorry I’m filthy. I’ll wash off, I promise. Just- Please… Don’t leave.”

For a deity, Markus truly had a talent for doing all the wrong things. Simon’s heartbreaking words made him realize his mistake instantly. He’d let his disgust with the priests influence his comment, setting it up to be misinterpreted as if that repulsion was directed at Simon instead of the men deserving of it. And then to make it worse, he walked away as if he couldn’t stand the sight of Simon, when in reality it was the exact opposite. Some God he was turning out to be. 

Taking delicate steps back towards the frail mortal still sitting on the edge of the bathtub, Markus returned to his side and knelt on the floor in front of him before carefully taking Simon’s hands in his own. “I won’t leave you,” he promised, gentle but firm in his resolution. 

Simon simply blinked at him with sad eyes for a few seconds before slowly nodding his head. He still seemed uncertain, but Markus reached up and rubbed his shoulder before nodding his head towards the still running water reassuringly. Finally, the mortal looked away to begin undressing himself.

Markus let his hand fall off of Simon’s arm and let go of his hand to stand and lean back against the sink counter. He attempted to look away so Simon could at least have some kind of privacy, but the moment he turned his head, he found himself staring into a mirror that reflected Simon right back at him. The blonde seemed to either be unaware or unconcerned as he unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it off his shoulders. The article of clothing hit the floor and before Markus could find something else to look at, Simon was standing up and undoing the button on his jeans.

The deity was hopelessly mesmerized at this point and all thoughts of distracting himself from the irresistible view sputtered and sparked before being completely snuffed out as he watched the reflection of Simon slowly pull the zipper on his pants undone. Pale hands pushed the fabric down off of his hips and down his long legs before Simon kicked the garment to the side and began to do the same with his boxer-briefs.

Markus felt his breath hitch in his throat as Simon turned away just before the God could catch a glimpse of the part of his attractive body he wanted to see most. At least the consolation prize was nothing to be disappointed with. Simon bent over the side of the tub, putting his perfect ass on display for Markus and causing the deity to feel an intense heat roiling inside his lower abdomen.

As Simon pulled up some kind of pin on the faucet, the water stopped flowing from the spigot below and instead came out of the shower head above. Markus blinked in slight confusion, the unexpected change being just enough of a distraction to pull him from his trance. He’d forgotten that humans of this modern age tended to prefer showers to baths and their industrious technology allowed to switch between the two easily.

Climbing into the tub carefully, Simon began to pull the curtain closed behind him but caught Markus’ gaze over his shoulder and paused. Though, admittedly, it wasn’t exactly the God’s gaze that Simon locked his eyes on. Large, captivating blue irises traveled quite a bit lower than that, coming to rest on the rather sizeable erection straining against the fabric of Markus’ slacks.

The deity shifted his stance awkwardly in a weak attempt to hide his arousal. It was unreal how easily this mortal could reduce the God to feeling like a small child getting caught by its mother stealing sweets from the kitchen before supper was ready. Instead of the horrified disgust he was expecting to appear on the blonde’s face, a small, soft smile turned the corners of Simon’s lovely lips upwards and he let his eyes return to Markus’, blinking up at him through long lashes.

“I know it’s asking too much of a God such as yourself, but… if you’re willing… I could use some help getting all clean,” Simon said with a timid voice, bowing his head meekly.

Markus felt a bit ashamed at how eager he was to accept the invitation, but there was no chance he was going to turn it down. “You could never ask too much of me,” he replied, leaving the sink to step closer to the other man.

Biting his lip coyly, Simon turned to face Markus more fully, but pulled the curtain around himself to cover his body so the deity still couldn’t see if the mortal was just as aroused as he was. “Are you sure? You’re bound to get wet.” Simon was blatantly teasing now, and Markus couldn’t even bring himself to be mad about it. “You might just have to get undressed and join me in the shower.”

“I suppose that’s a sacrifice I’ll have to make,” Markus purred back with the same flirting tone Simon was using. “Anything for my beloved savior.”

Simon reached a hand around the curtain to pull Markus closer by the collar of his shirt. “You saved me too.”

“Hmm,” Markus hummed lightly. “I guess that makes us even.”

“You did say you were a God of equality and balance,” Simon reminded.

It surprised Markus a bit that he’d remembered. Most mortals wouldn’t be able to recall the entire list of Markus’ domains after only hearing it once. But then, it was likely that Simon only remembered some of them and that just happened to be one of the things he’d listed off that had stuck in his memory.

Still, the sentiment did make the God wonder what it would be like to be on equal footing with a mortal. Specifically,  _ his _ mortal. The notion of being on the same level with any other human would have made Markus scowl in distaste. But, somehow, entertaining the idea of having Simon as an equal was not only tolerable, but inexplicably pleasant.

“I did say that, and I  _ am _ a God of equality and balance. Which means, as my follower, when you ask for my help, you are going to have to give as good as you take.” Markus smirked suggestively at Simon, putting a dusky hand on the pale fingers gripping the curtain and pulling it back slowly.

Simon smiled back shyly, finally letting the deity get a good look at him. “I’ll do my best to keep up with you.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem,” Markus breathed, staring at the perfectly adequate display with approval.

“… maybe you should stop staring and find out,” Simon laughed after a moment, breaking Markus’ trance yet again.

Markus furrowed his eyebrows in mock irritation before quickly beginning to peel his own clothing off. “Give me some time to appreciate the view,” he teased, discarding his clothing on the floor before joining Simon under the spray of the warm water and wrapping his arms around the mortal, pulling their bodies into a tight embrace.

Simon seemed to almost melt against him, the shape of their bodies fitting together flawlessly as Markus leaned in to kiss his beloved follower. As their mouths collided and their tongues explored each other passionately, the God was overwhelmed by a single, all-consuming thought that was not his own. The tremendous force of the emotion behind it was divinely majestic, great and powerful, wonderful and awe-inspiring, and absolutely, undeniably, utterly  **_terrifying_ ** _. _

H̸̛̫̜̲̦̺͕̯̞̯͉̗̰̻̼͑̒̐͆͊̆̃͝ͅ ̴̢̢̨̗̟͍̦̹̒̑̇͂͘U̶͚̻͍͉̭̺̥͎̼̱͌͑̕ ̷̨͎͔̫̹͓̖̻̼͖̹̻͗̉͛̐͛̃͒̊̐͂̐̔̆͌͠͝N̵̨̛̝̺͉̦͕͈͎̮̥̽̈́͒̔͆̀̅͠͝ ̷̪̹̹͓̪̘̼̮̺̫͈̲̹͈̪͔̃͋̾͑̈́͋̆̊͗̐̓G̷̋̋͂̾͑͌̉̊̏͌͊͘͝͠͝ͅ ̴̩̹͓̞͇̜̩̻̪̺̮̲͓̣͔͔̆̃͂̒ͅR̴̭͎̜̆̇͗͆͛̈́͑̕͜ ̶̟̭̙͌́͗̀͒͒̓͒̐͆́̇̚͘͘͝͠Ÿ̷̡̧̧͍͇̠̲̳̖̟̱̙͕̝̥̯̗́̓̏͗̃̚̕


	5. God Devourer

As their lips broke apart, Simon’s hunger became Markus’ and he was powerless to stop it. His thoughts were consumed by an overwhelming craving to be filled with a kind of sustenance that couldn’t possibly come from food. Markus wasn’t even sure what exactly they were hungry for, all he knew was that they desperately needed something…

Something emotional, spiritual, and intellectual. Something alive, and intimate, and vulnerable. Something with a soul… The only thing Markus could think of to satisfy this intense craving was Simon.

He wanted Simon.

And Simon wanted him.

They’re eyes locked onto each other with hungry desire, both intent on devouring the other in a way that was nothing like how mortals consumed. Despite Markus’ initial fear, an indescribable knowledge reassured him that Simon would do him no harm, and in turn, the God would not hurt him. Somehow, they would sustain each other without any loss. This mysterious understanding made him eager not only to feed  _ on _ Simon, but also to feed  _ himself _ to the other man.

And so, all Markus’ fear fell away, and he let himself submit to the hunger. He let himself submit to Simon, letting the man that was obviously not the mortal the pagan God had mistaken him for, guide him back into another passionate kiss. Their mouths opened to let each other in, and Markus felt comforting hands trail up and down his back as they pulled him close.

Their tongues battled for dominance as Markus pushed Simon against the shower wall and felt the warm water run down their bodies. Despite the game they played with their mouths, they both willingly took turns with control of the kiss. It was truly a marvel how Simon somehow managed to make him feel both powerless and powerful at the same time.

The blonde let his lips trail down Markus’ chin and jaw until they reached his neck and he began to suck on the God’s skin, leaving behind a shallow bruise before finding another spot to do the same thing again. While Simon marked his throat, Markus let his hands trail further down the other man’s back until they reached the curve of his ass. He gripped at the flesh, pressing his beloved follower’s pelvis to his own and beginning to grind their erections together. Simon responded by thrusting his hips into the motion enthusiastically.

Encouraged by the positive reaction, Markus let his middle finger slip between Simon’s cheeks to find his entrance and tease it by applying a gentle pressure there and rubbing small circles against the tight hole. The lewd moan that erupted from Simon’s throat as he abandoned Markus’ neck to throw his head back in ecstasy made the God’s dick throb and ache with need.

“Pray to me.” Markus purred the words out against Simon’s ear before leaving a trail of kisses down his neck to his collarbone. “Tell me what you want, and I will bless you with everything you ask for,” he whispered breathlessly between kisses, still teasing his lover’s asshole with featherlight touches.

Simon let out another shaky moan before calling the deity’s name. “Markus! Haah, I want to feel you inside of me. Please!”

He sounded so desperate as he pleaded, the blonde’s beautiful features twisted into an exquisite expression of carnal desire. Markus enjoyed the look on his lover’s face so much that he almost considered withholding the satisfaction Simon craved so badly, just to watch him beg. But he’d promised to answer the prayer, so pressed his finger past Simon’s entrance and slowly pushed one knuckle inside, then another, adding more until he could go no further. Simon writhed and whined at the sensation as their cocks twitched against each other and steam rose up around them from the shower floor.

Markus slowly swirled his finger inside of Simon a few times before pulling out, only to add another finger and repeat the motion. As Simon moaned and grabbed a handful of Markus’ own ass to press them closer to each other, Markus continued to add another finger before giving a few short thrusts and pulling his hand away. He ran his tongue up Simon’s throat before reaching up and teasing the blonde’s nipples with both hands.

“Do you want more?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yes, Markus. Please, I want you inside of me,” the blonde panted out.

Markus smirked mischievously. “I've already been inside of you.”

“No, not just fingers!” Simon whined. “I want  _ you _ inside of me.”

“What part of me?” Markus knew he was being cruel, but he wanted to hear the other man say it. “Be specific, or I can’t give you what you want.”

Simon gave out a frustrated groan and dug his nails into Markus’ back while thrusting his hips to try and keep himself stimulated with the friction. He was greedy to chase the pleasure and get the satisfaction he craved so strongly. But Markus wouldn’t give it to him until he said it.

“Uhhn, Markus! I want your cock to fill me up inside. Please, just fuck me!”

The God bared his teeth in a delighted grin before roughly grabbing the blonde and turning him to face the other way. Hot water from the shower sprayed onto the pallid skin of Simon’s back and ran down his sides and legs as Markus gripped his hips with strong fingers and lined his dick up with Simon’s asshole. All he had to do was press his tip against the entrance, not even penetrating it yet, for Simon to arch his back in anticipation.

Markus paused for only a few seconds, feeling the shiver run up Simon’s spine before the blonde gave out another frustrated whine and took matters into his own hands. The other man pressed back against Markus abruptly, impaling himself on Markus’ large erection. He let out a scream that was torn between pain and pleasure, causing the deity to feel no small amount of concern.

Simon’s entrance was too tight, and Markus’ engorged dick was just too big for the penetration to go much further than an inch or two past the tip, despite the force Simon had used to make it happen. Markus immediately wrapped his arms around his lover in an attempt to comfort him. He didn’t dare move his lower body for fear of causing the other man more pain.

“Are you alright, Simon?” the God asked with a tone of alarm in his voice.

“Ah… Hahn… Y-yes. I’m sorry. I got ahead of myself.” Simon panted in between words but surprisingly seemed to still be quite aroused. “I’m alright. Keep going.”

Markus wasn’t sure he should, but Simon didn’t give him much of a choice as he slowly started to push himself further onto Markus’ throbbing member. It appeared he was absolutely certain of what he wanted and determined to get it, so Markus didn’t stop him. He did try to at least pace his lover though, as he stroked Simon’s chest and torso with dusky hands and placed gentle kisses along the nape of his neck while easing into Simon with carefully controlled speed.

More lewd sounds came from Simon’s gorgeous mouth, causing Markus’ erection to grow harder and bigger inside of the other man without the God meaning for it to. He couldn’t help the way Simon’s soft, deep voice increased his arousal as the blonde let out breathy moans and whimpered.

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to hurt you,” Markus whispered.

Simon shook his head languidly and gasped for air. “Nha- No. Feels- Ah! Feels good.” The blonde finally pushed himself onto Markus’ dick completely, bottoming out and letting out a satisfied groan. “So… Fucking good…”

Markus was both shocked and impressed by Simon’s willingness to take it all, especially considering everything he’d been through that night. There was definitely a lot more to the man that Markus had first assumed. It made him wonder just how strong Simon’s desire was for him.

“You’re doing so well. I know it’s a lot, but you’re taking everything without complaint. I want to reward you,” Markus murmured in Simon's ear as he pulled the moaning man away from the shower wall.

He turned them so he could press his own back against it instead, then grabbed Simon by the thighs and hoisted him into the air with his legs spread apart. With Markus still deep inside of him, Simon was held in the air by the deity’s erection while bronze hands supported some of his weight and kept him balanced. The blonde let out a cry of pleasure and leaned back against his God, turning his head to look into Markus’ mismatched eyes with baby blues that were hazy and glazed over with lust. Simon’s dick stood fully erect and twitching with need, still untouched but leaking precum that dripped down and mixed with the hot water raining down from the showerhead above.

Markus’ own dick was being squeezed in the hot vice of his lover’s ass, buried to the hilt and throbbing at the sensation of Simon’s walls clamping down and writhing around it as he began to move. Markus helped the motion by gripping Simon’s legs to lift and lower him in a steady rhythm on his erection. He watched as Simon’s eyes rolled back in ecstasy and he let out another loud moan.

“Maaaarrrkussssss!”

“I’m right here, my love,” Markus murmured as his beloved follower squeezed his pretty eyes shut and let his mouth hang open while his God fucked him.

Silently, and without alerting his lover, Markus shifted his shape to allow for more exploration of Simon’s body. Two additional arms reached around the moaning man to stroke their bronze fingers across his sides and torso, sending goosebumps across the pale skin they touched. A soft gasp of surprise came from Simon as he looked down to see what was causing this new sensation. But he didn’t protest before resting his head against Markus’ shoulder and closing his eyes again to enjoy the pleasure.

The God ran his fingertips down lower before letting one hand apply a gentle pressure to Simon’s lower abdomen where Markus’ massive cock pressed back from inside of the other man. Another hand took Simon’s own pulsating dick and began to stroke it methodically, letting one finger gently tease the pink tip where his cock practically drooled precum. Even with the water continually washing it away, the natural lubricant was still slick enough that Markus’ dusky finger slid across the head of Simon’s dick with ease. His other two hands began to pick up the pace in their task of bouncing the blonde man up and down on Markus’ swollen erection.

All the while, Simon continued to moan and whine with pleasure, occasionally calling out his God’s name in ragged, breathy prayers. “Ahhhnn, Markus. Y-yesss, please. Hahh, ah! Markus… Please, Markussss…”

The more he chanted the deity’s name and pleaded for mercy, the faster Markus thrust up into him. Eventually it reached a point where Markus was pounding his thick cock into Simon, ramming against the blonde’s prostate so hard and fast, that it reduced the poor thing to a whimpering, incoherently babbling, hot mess. Without even shapeshifting, Markus used his divine abilities to create the sensation of a thousand wet, invisible tongues licking every inch of his beautiful lover’s body. This was enough to send his beloved follower over the edge.

A moan built up in Simon’s throat, increasing in volume until it became a lewd scream of pure ecstasy. Waves of pleasure wracked through Simon’s entire body as his aching cock finally found release and shot out rope after rope of thick cum across his stomach and all over the dusky hand that continued to stroke him off even after the orgasm should have ended.

It was too much for Simon to take and he tried to beg for relief from the overstimulation, but only more incoherent babbling came out of him and he couldn’t stop his hips from continuing to thrust onto Markus’ massive cock. He involuntarily impaled himself on the God over and over, smashing the button that made him most sensitive with Markus’ dick repetitively until a second orgasm overtook him and he ejaculated once more. This time he wasn’t the only one, and the climax was made even stronger by the feeling of Markus’ white hot cum filling him up to overflowing.

Another heady scream erupted from Simon’s throat as Markus bit down on the blonde’s shoulder to keep his own voice from escaping. The pain of the bite only registered as more pleasure and both men slowly relaxed into each other and let the warm water of the shower soothe them through their climaxes until they rode them out completely.

The two of them slid down the wall until they sat in the bottom of the bathtub and quietly recovered in each other’s arms. Simon reached behind him to caress the side of Markus’ face, still sitting in the God’s lap and allowing him to remain inside of him as the god shifted back to a normal human shape and wrapped his two remaining arms around the blonde’s middle. A few moments passed in tranquil silence. The only sound echoing off the tile walls was the steady shower spray mixing with heavy breathing from both men. Until their heart rates gradually calmed and their lungs eventually quieted as well.

“Are you alright?” Markus asked softly, finally breaking the silence.

Simon turned his head to offer a lazy, but genuine smile to his God. “Never better,” he murmured back. 

Markus gave a relieved smile in return. “Good. I was afraid I hurt you.”

Finally moving to pull his lover’s cock out from inside of him, Simon carefully shifted position until he was laying across the other man on his stomach. The shower continued to run, all but forgotten, as Simon wrapped his arms around Markus’ neck and gazed lovingly into the deity’s mismatched eyes.

“Hurting the ones we love is inevitable. Sticking around to help them heal and making things right again is what makes the difference.”

Markus blinked curiously at the mysterious man that had somehow stolen the God’s heart right out from under his nose before he’d even realized what had happened. “I’m not going anywhere,” he promised, gently stroking Simon’s back with his fingertips. “I do wish you would tell me what you are though.”

A small frown appeared on Simon’s lips and his sad eyes looked down in shame, but he did answer, albeit in a quiet voice. “I suppose I couldn’t hide it from you forever.”

So, he had been blocking Markus out on purpose. But how? As far as Markus knew, only other Gods could do that. But Markus was sure he was aware of every other God in existence, and Simon wasn’t one of them.

“Usually I feed on lesser souls. Mortals are too weak to sustain me without an unreasonable amount of lives sacrificed. I found out pretty early on that I would run out of resources too fast if I kept eating them. Besides, I couldn’t stand being the cause of that much death, no matter how hungry I was. It wasn’t worth it…” Simon’s voice quivered, and Markus furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, but continued to listen without a word. “Stronger souls exist though. Things that the humans usually refer to as angels or demons. They’re surprisingly good at catching these entities, especially the evil ones. I don’t feel as guilty consuming the ones that deserve it.

“That’s why I went looking for something to eat down in the catacombs of that church.” Simon glanced up at Markus timidly. “I wasn’t looking for mortal food. Churches often keep demons sealed away in secret places. I just have to find them. But I haven’t had much luck in decades. I guess they are getting rarer. Maybe I was going through them too fast too… But I’ve been so hungry.”

Markus stared at the blonde as he ducked his head down and averted his eyes once more. “What are you?” he finally asked.

“There isn’t a name for my kind. I don’t even know if there are any others like me left. When the Gods invented themselves into existence and filled up the void with life, they saw us, beings made of neutral energy, and took pity on us because we weren’t like them. They tried to breathe life into us the same way they did when they created worlds. Instead, it corrupted our neutral energy and made us hungry. We were calm, but they made us crave life to fill the negative space and we became ravenous. When we began devouring their creations and they realized they couldn’t tame us, the Gods began to hunt us, and in our anger, we hunted them back.

“We found that we could feed on Gods without destroying them. An endless supply of sustenance and power to stop the endless pain they had caused us. But they didn’t like sharing their power, they hated what they created and began to kill us. It started a war, and slowly the Gods annihilated us. It’s been eons since I’ve seen another of my kind.”

“How can we have killed all of you?” Markus’ expression was set in a hard frown as he looked at the man in his arms. “I’ve never even heard of your kind. I’ve been around since the beginning of time. Don’t you think I would know of your existence?”

Simon only smiled at him weakly. “You’re so young and naïve.” The statement only furthered Markus’ confusion as a pale finger stroked the side of his face gently. “You’ve only been around since the beginning of time. I’ve been around since long before that,” he explained, “and even old Gods such as yourself are not the eldest among you.”

Thick eyebrows furrowed and Markus’ lips pursed in a childish pout. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth from the beginning?”

Simon’s face twisted into an odd look of disbelief before he let out a chuckle. “You really are young.” The comment was so foreign to Markus’ ears, it only made his frown deepen. “Markus, your kind hate mine. You twisted what we were into your own perverted creations only to hunt us down and slaughter us for sport…” Now Simon was frowning too. “Of course, I didn’t tell you what I was. I was afraid.”

It felt like a thick, black layer of tar was trying to suffocate Markus’ heart from within his own chest. Not once had Markus ever had any intentions of bringing Simon to harm. Not since the moment he’d heard his desperate thoughts of searching for some way to stop the endless hunger that tormented him down in the prison of the church catacombs, and not forever afterwards. To know that his love feared him broke the God.

“Simon… I’m never going to hunt you. If it would please you, I would let you hunt  _ me _ for the rest of eternity and willingly feed you everything I have until there’s nothing left.” The look of shock in Simon’s mesmerizing crystal blue eyes did not change the unwavering and absolute firmness of Markus’ own expression.

It took a moment for the blonde to regain enough composure to speak again, but he did finally reply. “Gods don’t die. I could feed off of you endlessly and it would never drain you. So, you don’t have to worry about there ever being nothing left of you,” he sighed. “That’s something none of your predecessors ever seemed to grasp the concept of. All they saw was us trying to take their power. They didn't listen when we tried to tell them that we didn't have to hurt them.”

Markus hooked his fingers around Simon’s chin and tilted his head up to meet his gaze. “Then I see no problem with staying by your side and continuing to feed you.”

Simon blinked up at him in silent awe for a moment before the God leaned in to brush his lips against the blonde’s. When Simon leaned into the contact, the blanket of sorrow that had been strangling his heart suddenly lifted and Markus kissed the being he loved with a gentle but powerful passion that was returned with equal emotion. It was bittersweet when they both finally broke the kiss.

“You don’t ever have to go hungry again, Simon,” he whispered. “You can stay with me forever if you want.”

“I want to be with you, Markus.” Simon rested his forehead against the God’s and closed his eyes.

“Forever?”

A soft smile spread across Simon’s face and he nodded his head. “Forever.”


End file.
